Anyone can create a new emoji. Here’s an animated guide to doing it right.. It might be tempting to assume that new emoji are flown in by stork, handed down from high atop a mountain or mined in caves below the Silicon Valley giants’ headquarters. The truth is even more surprising: Anyone can propose a new emoji. Yes, even you. Mark Bramhill, an audio producer and host of the podcast “Welcome to Macintosh,” discovered this fact in the middle of 2016 — and his mind immediately went wild with the possibilities. Yet at the time, the road from idea to emoji was not well-mapped. Bramhill soon realized that all paths led to the little-known global language standards organization that — somehow — found itself tasked with regulating emoji: the Unicode Consortium. With this knowledge, Mark began an unusual journey to bring his “person meditating” emoji onto phones all over the world. >>

Cell injections, magnetic chairs and brain implants are among Silicon Valley's ideas for IMMORTALITY. Writing for the Conversation, James Horton and Nicholas Priest from the University of Bath look at whether Silicon Valley's quest for immortality is worth its worrying sacrifices (stock). >>

Doctors are asking Silicon Valley engineers to spend more time in the hospital before building apps. Doctors have had enough with software that's not useful, so they're inviting entrepreneurs to shadow them. >>

Fintech startup Plaid valued at $2.65 billion in latest funding round: source. Fintech startup Plaid has raised $250 million in its latest funding round led by one of Silicon Valley's top investors, Mary Meeker, which according to a source familiar with the matter values the company at $2.65 billion. >>

How does a tech billionaire say sorry for his unauthorized wedding? There’s an app for that.. The dispute over Sean Parker’s wedding served as a parable about the excesses and arrogance of Silicon Valley. But we have the hindsight of time now, and a snazzy new beach app to boot. >>

I tried the keto diet that's sweeping Silicon Valley with help from a gadget that tracks progress. Ketogenic diets are all the rage, so I decided to give it a try. Here's what it was like to stick to a low carb, high fat diet. >>

In Silicon Valley wages are down for everyone but the top 10 percent. Silicon Valley has been an engine for economic growth, but that wealth is not being shared with most of the workers in the industry. Nine in 10 workers in Silicon Valley make less now than they did in 1997 after adjusting for inflation. >>

In the how-much-screen-time debate, all parents are just trying to figure it out. Even in super-aware Silicon Valley, parents know it's unrealistic to keep their kids off social media entirely. >>

Kara Swisher: How You Can Help Fight the Information Wars. Silicon Valley won’t save us. We’re on our own. >>

Profiles in Science: The Yoda of Silicon Valley. Donald Knuth, master of algorithms, reflects on 50 years of his opus-in-progress, “The Art of Computer Programming.” >>

Salesforce President: Pay equality is not just a Silicon Valley issue. Salesforce President and Chief People Office Cindy Robbins raised the issue of equal pay and found that women at were being paid less than men. Salesforce has since completed three internal audits of its pay practices, but Robbins says there is still more work to do. >>

Silicon Valley will be a target from left, right and center in 2019. Joshua A. Geltzer and Dipayan Ghosh say 2018 was an ordeal for the tech industry, and all signs suggest that continued political scrutiny, questions from users about privacy and volatile stock performance will continue into the new year. >>

Tech stocks have sold off sharply. Is it a blip — or something more?. The tech sell off was fueled by anxieties over slowing growth, trade policy, and market gyrations, but public distrust is also weighing down Silicon Valley. >>

The Technology 202: More than 200 companies are calling for a national privacy law. Here's an inside look at their proposal.. The privacy debate moves far beyond Silicon Valley. >>